Interstate 95 in Florida

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Interstate 95 (officially the William B. Singer Expressway in Florida)^[2] , the main Interstate Highway on the east coast of the United States, serves the Atlantic coast of Florida. It begins at a partial interchange with U.S. Highway 1 just south of downtown Miami, and heads north past Daytona Beach and Jacksonville to the Georgia state line at the St. Marys River.

The southernmost 13.69^[1] miles (22.03 km) of I-95, from Miami to the north side of the Golden Glades Interchange, is the unsigned State Road 9A. (There is another State Road 9A forming a beltway around Jacksonville.) The rest of I-95 is part of State Road 9, which splits at the Golden Glades Interchange and heads southwest and south on surface roads to end southwest of downtown Miami. (SR 9 is only signed south of the Golden Glades Interchange.)

[edit] Route description

Interstate 95 splits from U.S. Highway 1 near 32nd Road in southern Miami. It quickly interchanges with the Rickenbacker Causeway via the short unsigned State Road 913, and then heads north into downtown. The short State Road 970 freeway, mostly unsigned, distributes traffic to several downtown streets. On the north side of downtown, at the Midtown Interchange, Interstate 395 heads east to the MacArthur Causeway, and the tolled State Road 836 heads west to Miami International Airport. Throughout Miami-Dade County, I-95 is designated the North-South Expressway according to some maps.^[3]

After crossing I-395 and SR 836, I-95 begins to head north roughly along the alignment of Northwest 6th Avenue, lying one block east of Northwest 7th Avenue (U.S. Highway 441/State Road 7). Just north of 36th Street (U.S. Highway 27/State Road 25), at what has been called the 36th Street Interchange,^[4] I-95 crosses Interstate 195, which goes east over the Julia Tuttle Causeway to Miami Beach, and State Road 112, a toll road west to the airport. A two-way high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) roadway in the median begins at I-195 and SR 112, formed by ramps to and from SR 112. I-95 continues north, crossing and interchanging with many surface roads, most of which are State Roads, before reaching the Golden Glades Interchange.

The complicated Golden Glades Interchange provides access between I-95 and two other freeways - the original section of Florida's Turnpike (State Road 91), since bypassed by the Homestead Extension (State Road 821), and the Palmetto Expressway (State Road 826). Ramps are also provided to and from several surface streets - State Road 826 east on 167th Street to Sunny Isles Beach, U.S. Highway 441 (State Road 7) south on Northwest 7th Avenue and north on Northwest 2nd Avenue, and State Road 9 southwest on a limited-access roadway to Northwest 27th Avenue. At the Golden Glades Interchange, State Road 9A ends, and State Road 9 joins I-95. I-95 north to West Palm Beach, as well as SR 9 southwest to 27th Avenue, runs parallel to the South Florida Rail Corridor, used by CSX Transportation for freight and Tri-Rail for commuter rail.

North of Miami, I-95 continues on to Ft. Lauderdale, where it interchanges with I-595, providing access to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades to the east, and Broward County's western suburbs as well as I-75 northbound (via Alligator Alley) across the peninsula to the Gulf Coast to the west. In West Palm Beach, I-95 provides direct access to Palm Beach International Airport as well as downtown West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Island via Okeechobee Blvd. North of West Palm Beach, I-95 runs literally beside Florida's Turnpike for several miles, before the freeways eventually go separate ways north of Fort Pierce (I-95 continuing directly along the coast, Florida's Turnpike turning west toward Orlando).

Continuing north, I-95 provides access to Florida State Roads 70, 60, and 50 in Ft. Pierce, Vero Beach, and Titusville, respectively; each are major east-west thoroughfares that provide access between the east and west coasts of Florida. I-95 also interchanges with the Beachline Expressway near Cape Canaveral, a toll-road providing access between the Cape and the major tourist areas in Orlando. I-95 also provides direct access to I-4 in Daytona Beach.

I-95 then continues directly through the center of downtown Jacksonville, with several major interchanges: I-295/State Road 9A, several miles south of the city; I-10 just south of downtown, and I-295/S.R. 9A once again several miles north of the city (the two highways provide a western and eastern bypass, respectively, around the city). Just north of I-295, I-95 provides access to Jacksonville International Airport. From this point, I-95 continues north several miles before finally crossing into Georgia, just north of mile marker 380.

[edit] Future

The Florida Department of Transportation is currently seeking federal funding to construct express lanes along I-95 in South Florida. The lanes will run from approximately I-595 near Ft. Lauderdale to I-395 near downtown Miami and are aiming to be completed by summer 2008 and summer 2009 for the northbound and southbound directions, respectively^[5]. Currently, the commute time between the Golden Glades Interchange and downtown Miami during the morning and evening rush hours can exceed 30 minutes for the approximately 9 mile stretch^[6]; tolls would be collected electronically along the express route and would be increased or decreased depending on traffic flow in order to ensure a minimum speed of 50 mph in express lanes. Drivers would be allowed to enter and exit the express lanes at 5 points along the route.

[edit] Major cities

Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs.^[7]

• Miami
• Fort Lauderdale
• West Palm Beach
• Port St. Lucie
• Melbourne
• Daytona Beach
• St. Augustine
• Jacksonville
• Savannah, Georgia

[edit] Exit list

[edit] References